Britain’s Ben Swift (Team Sky) came home in ninth. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) lost touch with the peloton on the second category Cote aux Fees, and could not regain contact with the group, ruling him out of the bunch finish.

Before Pinot was reeled in by the bunch lead by Liquigas and Lampre, Briton Charly Wegelius (Omega Pharma-Lotto) had a spirited yet ultimately unsuccessful attempt to bridge up to the lone escapee.

At 18km to the finish, Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Lotto) had a solo dig, managing to evade the rapdily descending bunch until 4km to go, bringing it all back together for a sprint showdown.

After placing second in the opening prologue on Tuesday, just one second behind winner Marco Pinotti (HTC-Columbia), Sagan comfortably moved into the leader’s jersey thanks to the 10-second winner’s time bonus.